Becoming the Great Trainer Red
by Poofable
Summary: For Red, being the most powerful trainer alive isn't enough. Being one of the "Greats" still feels so far away. Now he's been saddled with a hyperactive orphan girl, his Pokémon are missing, and Team Rocket is out to get him. Plus, he still has worry about saving the world from ultimate peril. Nobody said becoming one of the Greats was easy, after all.
1. The Game Plan (Prologue)

**Began chapter: **November 16, 2012  
**Posted: **November 18, 2012  
**Rating**: This entire fanfiction is rated **T**

**Other notes**: In this story, I'm going to be experimenting with 1st person-POV. I don't use it often, and when I do, I end up rewriting the story so that it'll be 3rd person. xD This is also the first time that I'm going to change up my writing style. It'll be a little less serious (more fanfiction compatible, I should say.) I want it to be more _personable, _a little _looser_, I should say.

And oh gosh, this is the first time that my Pokemon won't be…humanoid. oAo

How am I possibly going to function?!

**Read, enjoy, review, **and **_share!_**

* * *

**Prologue**

Even as a child, I had known that I wanted to be the strongest trainer _alive._

I'd watched enough TV shows to figure out a game plan. All I needed to do was obtain a Pokemon, get through some gym battles, and then eventually go on to win the championship, right? Well, I wish I had known it wouldn't be that simple, because it wasn't. There were several problems with my game plan. I was only nine years old (_hardly _of age), there were actually trainers that were stronger than the Elite Four (impossible!), and…

I didn't have my own Pokemon.

Apparently, I hadn't done my research because when I showed up to Professor Oak's lab to receive my first Pokemon (expecting something like a Gyarados), I got this little yellow thing called a Pikachu. I was flabbergasted. I didn't know Pokemon came in XS sizes.

My expectations were crushed by the giant foot known as 'reality.'

Unlike the other kids who had turned ten on the same day as me, I didn't immediately depart from Pallet Town to begin my adventure. Instead, I took my Pikachu home, set it on the bed, stepped back, and really looked at it. I was way too embarrassed to take it outside. When my mom knocked on my door, I told her that I was shirtless. She scoffed in return, but at least she left me alone.

I felt even more embarrassed when I realized how clueless I really was about Pokemon. I didn't even know what a Pikachu _was_. As he stood there on my bed, blinking at me, I determined that my childish ignorance was going to end. I _was _going to be the strongest trainer alive. Again, I learned that saying is easier than doing.

Pikachu had to eat a lot, and that means that he had to _go _a lot too. He liked to chew on my shoes, and when he wasn't doing that, he was biting my ankles. When I went to bed at night, he curled up next to me and took up half of the mattress. As consequence, I truly believe that I developed premature back problems because of him.

There was this one time that he ate some floss, and it got all tangled up in his belly and we had to go to the Pokemon Center to get it out. The nurse had said that, because he was still _really_ young, he was a little too curious and could easily get hurt. I didn't see how I was supposed to take Pikachu out into the world and train him to battle if he couldn't even stop himself from eating a whole roll of floss, but I didn't say anything.

I had complained about him tons, but the truth was, I really liked Pikachu a lot. Even if he _did _take up the whole bed, he was really warm and fuzzy. And it wasn't his fault that he liked to eat my shoes. The nurse said he was just teething, meaning that he needed to chew on things to make the hurting stop, so I forgave him for those problematic issues.

Eventually, it felt like me and Pikachu against the whole world. When he was finally old enough to tell the difference between solid food and floss, and when _I _was old enough to do my own laundry and cook my own food, I decided that it was time for us to leave home. I was leaving a whole year later than everyone else, but I didn't let that stop me.

I never let _anything_ stop me from that point on.

And that's how I became the strongest trainer alive.

* * *

You know how everyone has this plan for their life? When someone is done with their plan, they like to settle down and just let things happen from then on, because there are no more goals to reach. Well, I thought I had finished up "the plan." Goal one: Become strongest trainer alive. Goal two: Live the rest of my life in sheer happiness from then on until positive infinity and/or the day I die. There. Done.

No. Not done.

"Victreebel, use Razor Leaf!"

Since the day that I had self-deemed myself the strongest trainer alive (although Kanto likes to call me that every now and then too), I was content to spend my time battling challengers who wanted to defeat me and claim my title. Today, in particular, I had fought four people already and was one Pokemon away from defeating the fifth. His Victreebel didn't stand a chance against Charizard.

I didn't even have to say anything; Charizard knew what was coming and how to accordingly defend himself. He opened his great, big maw in what looked like a roar, but then flames burst from his mouth and shredded the Victreebel with fire. All of the snow around the opponent and his Pokemon melted as Charizard delivered his signature move: Blast Burn.

And that's how that battle ended. Victreebel went unconscious, the trainer went home, and I stayed up there on my cold mountain with my Pokemon. That's how it usually went, those battles. I wasn't exactly complaining. I mean, I could have used a nice stove or some warmer weather. That mountain was _mine_ though. That was the mountain trainers scaled when they wanted to fight the great Red.

Sometimes, I don't think I'm so great.

That's just a feeling though; that feeling doesn't occur very often, and when it does, I feel…feelings. It's a mysterious thing to me, because I'm not the best at deciphering emotions. I mean, I was practically the _king_ of this mountain. I had some of the best Pokemon around. Everyone in my home town recognized me as a hero.

I sat down, crossed my arms over my uplifted knees and said, "I need a nap." I decided to call out my best buddy. Whenever I felt low like I did then, looking at him would remind me of all the accomplishments I'd achieved, all of the awards and the titles and the squealing fan girls I'd so (un)willingly inherited.

There was a flashing light, and my best buddy emerged from his Pokeball. "_Pika?"_

"Hey there," I said. "You haven't been eating anything particularly stringy lately, right?"

Pikachu gave me a flat stare, as if saying, "Really?"

I ruffled the top of his head and scratched him behind the ears, so all hard feelings were immediately forgiven. "I was kidding," I said. Actually, I was just about to make another floss joke (you know, just for old times) when I saw something from the corner of my eye.

There was someone – another challenger, I bet – standing at the top of the stairs, which went all the way from the bottom of the mountain to my spot. I could barely see the person through the strong wind and snow, but it didn't matter. Pikachu was already prepared and so was I. _Another battle, another day. Let's get this over with._

I paused, and Pikachu said, "Pika…_chu_?"

The girl was so bundled up in colorful jackets that she looked like a popsicle with legs. She was half my height, half my weight, and half my age I would bet. And then the skinny legs beneath her began to move and she took several steps closer to me. She attempted to lift her hand and point at me, very heroic like, but she couldn't even lift it much less bend her limbs.

"Trainer R—Red!" Her voice sounded came out as a pitiful squeak. "I have a pre…prepossession for you!"

"A proposition?"

"That is irrelevant!"

Irrelevant? Her jacket wrinkled a little bit around the hood, so I assumed that she was moving her eyebrows. Some kids, I think, are perfectly capable of leaving the nest at ten. Some kids, I _knew_, should really stay in school and learn their alphabet, kind of like her.

I put my hands in my pockets and stared at her, waiting for her to go on. When she didn't respond, I cleared my throat calmly and made a waving gesture with my hand.

"E—er-hem!" She shuffled several inches forward, looking really embarrassed. And then she saw Pikachu and suddenly I wasn't important to her anymore. She jumped up and down, squealing words like, "Oh my goodness, he's so cute!" and "He's so much fluffier in person!" as she tumbled towards us.

Pikachu went, "_P—Pika,_" and hid behind my legs.

Just before reaching us, the girl tripped and fell into the snow with an "_Eep!" _With her face buried at my feet, she made a sniffling noise and looked up at me.

The moment I first looked into Eliza's eyes was a moment I would never forget. She stared up at me, cheeks flushed. "Red," she breathed. Because of her heavy coat, it took her about five minutes to push herself to her feet. When she was finally standing, she said, "Y—you're Red. I'm actually standing here – in front of you!"

I waved. "What's up?"

"Everyone says that you don't talk," she said, almost accusingly. Then her face brightened. "I knew they were making it all up, I just knew it. You don't look scary or mean or—"

"Okay, we get it."

"—at all!" she finished. "My older sister – well, she really isn't my older sister, but I like to think she is – thinks you're the dreamiest, most handsome person on the planet. All these people making up stories about you, I wonder how it feels. And why do you hang up here on this mountain all the time, all by yourself?"

I could only stare. In my head, I really wanted to pick her up by the scruff of her coat and drop her from the side of the mountain. In reality, I just maintained my usual, cool attitude and said to her, "You told me you had a proposition for me." I was interested, although I doubted that a nine-year-old could provide me with anything I really wanted.

"Red!" she said suddenly, eyes alight. I jumped, startled by her enthusiasm. "This would make me the happiest person _ever_ if you were to just do this for me—"

"Mhm."

"—and even though people make up a lot of stories about you down the mountain, I've never believed them, so I think you're a lot nicer than they say you are—!"

"Do continue."

"—my biggest wish in the whole world is for you to take me as your apprentice!"

At that moment, I only paused. I should have realized the extremity of those words, how heavy they would soon come to rest on my shoulders. When I look back at it now, I see my whole world compacting into the dreams of this small child. Everything stops, goes black, and then rushes me back to reality to hear those words over again, "Take me as your apprentice!"

"Oh no, kid," I said, watching as her face fell. "I don't take partners nor do I teach. I prefer to stay up here by myself, you see."

"B—but, you _have_ to!" she said. She looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Everyone's told me that you're the strongest trainer ever, so strong that nobody can beat you!"

I should have felt pleased by those remarks, but I didn't. "That doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I _don't_ take kids in," I said. I glanced down at Pikachu, who also seemed very unsure about this whole issue and was taking his stress out on my pant leg. "What are you, like six—?"

"Eleven!"

Oh. They were getting smaller by the year. "You have to go home now," I said, almost half-heartedly. "It's admirable that a girl of your age made it up this mountain all by yourself, without adult supervision and all, but I'm going to have to send you back down. My mountain isn't the place for you."

She huffed, and then she said, "Fine then. I'm challenging you to a Pokemon battle!" She ripped the hood from her head, revealing bright, copper brown hair.

If only I knew at the time how many premature gray hairs _her_ hair would give me, I might have put her hood back on and asked her to go home to her parents. But, for some unknown reason, I kept going, kept _wondering_: what if she makes something happen? Never did I ask myself: what if she changes my life?

That's why I kept going.

"A battle?" I repeated, a little dumbfounded. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I have my own Pokemon," she said defensively. Her little hands clutched at a Pokeball, which she kept close to her chest. She was trembling, and not from the cold. "And as long as I have that, you're supposed to accept my battle."

"I…" Well, she _was _technically correct. There wasn't much I could say to challenge her.

Her expression was pure determination at that point. "If you win," she said, "I'll leave the mountain with my Pokemon and never come back. You won't ever hear from me again. But—" she exhaled, white mist coming from her mouth –"if _I _win, you have to take me as your apprentice. I don't want your money or any cool recognition for beating you."

Goodness, this girl was _not_ giving up. I had to weigh the pros and cons of this. My chances of winning were off the charts. I'd been challenged by old and young alike, and none of them had even come close to defeating my team. So if I could beat her real quick, she would leave and I wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. I could be left alone on my mountain again to dwell in solitude.

I thought there were two ways to go. Either I would win, and she would go. Or I would win, and she would go.

I _really_ hate being wrong.

"Fine," I said. Again, her face brightened. "You've climbed my mountain and formally challenged me to a Pokemon battle. I accept that challenge."

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting. I thought I would underestimate her, she would pull out some crazy Dragon Pokemon, and then proceed to battle me. As I summoned my Blastoise, my imagination flew in many directions, but I'll tell you now, the one thing I wasn't expecting to see was a shivering, pitiful Ponyta ("Go get them, Cupcake!") whose flame was close to being extinguished.

Blastoise made a chuffing noise, and the Ponyta tucked its tail and stiffened its body. I looked beyond the Pokemon at the girl, wondering if she was serious. I saw her fierce expression, which made it clear that she knew she was going to lose but wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Cupcake," I said. "What's this, a joke?"

The girl looked like she was going to cry again. "She knows how to battle!" she insisted, teary-eyed. "She knows Ember and is broke to ride and everything!"

Cupcake made a soft whinnying noise, her black eyes staring up at my Blastoise in terror. And the girl, who couldn't seem to stop shaking for even a moment. I watched the two Pokemon interact for a little, and then I took off my hat, sighed, and ran my hand through my hair.

"What's your name, kid?"

Her teeth were chattering, so Eliza came out sounding like, "E—l-l-l-izhuh."

"You're eleven years old, Eliza?"

Pitifully, she nodded her head.

I sighed again, lacing my hands behind my head. _I really, REALLY hate being wrong. _Eventually, I called Blastoise back into his Pokeball, hardly daring to look at the confused expression on her face. "Put your Ponyta – er, Cupcake – away, Eliza," I said, after giving her some time to think about it. "I'm not going to battle you."

"W—what?" She sounded absolutely horrified. Now she was _really_ crying. "But I climbed your mountain! I brought a Pokemon with me, a—and—" Her hiccups interrupted her whining.

"Don't even bother," I said. I averted my eyes, hating what I was about to say. "And quit your complaining. Apprentices don't complain."

This wasn't on the plan. I had been organizing _the _game plan since I was nine, fixing and tweaking until everything had ended up just the way I wanted it to. That morning, I thought I would battle until the sun set, go to sleep, and find the routine waiting for me the next day. For the _n_th time that day, I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

This wasn't how I was supposed to become the Great Trainer Red.

**End of Prologue**

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**Other Notes**: I wasn't planning on putting this up for another month. -


	2. There's No End to Her Troublemaking

**Began chapter:**November 19, 2012  
**Posted: **November 21, 2012  
**Rating**: This entire fanfiction is rated **T**

**Other notes**: Man, these chapters are so much easier to write when I'm not being so serious. xD I love writing from Red's perspective. As heroic as he is, I've always imagined him to be the "cool, collected, and a little less than polite" kind of hero. He's probably been on some crazy adventures, besides the ones he experienced in the first game. :P

My previous readers know this routine:

**Read,  
Enjoy,  
Review,**

and, of course, _**share!**_

* * *

**Chapter One**

"_Whoopee!"_

I couldn't understand what was happening. The plan, the _plan. _The plan was being shredded to bits, taken by the throat and ripped apart dream by dream…and all because of one little girl.

"This is _so much fun!"_

I turned around, narrowing my eyes at Eliza. She was clinging to Blastoise's neck, screaming with glee as he stomped around and attempted to throw her to the snow. Groaning, I dropped my head into my hands and lamented about my life. Nobody was going to take me seriously after this. I would go from "Red the Awesome and Unbeatable" to "Red the Babysitter."

I attempted to block out the noises of Eliza's shrieking, but eventually she started to sound like a room full of Whismur. I scrambled to my feet and whirled around, watching her climb all over my poor Pokémon's head. I sighed, walked over to Blastoise, and picked Eliza up by the back of her coat. I held her close to my face and glared at her.

"Why do you even want to be my apprentice?" I asked irritably.

Eliza was still laughing because of her experience with the bucking tortoise, so I gave up and set her down. The second her feet touched the ground, she was off again, jumping around and rolling around like the little monster she was. She was _way_ too hyper for any normal human being.

I stood there, my arms crossed and my mood less than content. "If you're that happy about all of this…" I began, even though I knew she wasn't paying any attention. I attempted to go on, but my voice trailed off as she ran to the other side of the clearing.

I waited patiently. Hyper kids like her could never stay in one spot for long, so it wouldn't be long until her navigation system guided her in my direction again. Two minutes later, she zoomed past me, and I grabbed her by the hood and dragged her to my usual sitting spot. I plopped her onto the snow and firmly said, "Listen, kid."

Her cheeks were flushed and she was grinning like there was no tomorrow. "What, what?" she asked.

"Being me is serious business," I said. "In order to win my battles, I have to _concentrate. _And I can't concentrate with you running around like a tyrant. Not only are you ruining _my_ focus, you're breaking my Pokémon's too."

I gestured towards Blastoise, who looked like he had been scarred for life. Then I continued, "If you're going to hang around here and learn a thing or two, you need to sit down and be quiet." For good measure, I gave her an extra, typical "Red" glare. It was quite popular amongst the ladies down below, but I didn't know how well it would work on a prepubescent eleven year old. "You're going to cause an avalanche with all the screaming you're doing."

"I was just excited," said Eliza, pouting as I walked away. Then she broke out into a smile and began trotting after me. "Hey, hey, what do you do all day? Reply to fan mail? Oh wait, you probably spend all of your time training. Do you do what they do in the movies? You know, like take showers under freezing waterfalls and meditate?"

I paused, having to think about that. What _did _I do all day? "I don't really do much of—"

"Oh, I bet you go running through the caves, fighting every Pokemon and trainer that comes your way!" exclaimed Eliza. "You probably eat those trainers for _breakfast! _And then, when you're done with that, you come back up here and take on every challenger that comes your way!"

"No, it really isn't like that."

"Or maybe you—"

She was interrupted by a loud, whirring sound. I turned my head in all directions, searching for the source of the disturbance. When I saw the cause of the noise, my jaw dropped and Eliza screamed. I said, "You've got to be _kidding_ me."

A black helicopter rose from the side of the mountain from nowhere, tilting back and forth as it straightened itself out over our heads. A giant, red 'R' was painted on both sides, and the tail had two white stripes going down the middle. Maniacal laughing came from inside the cockpit, and one of the clear doors slid open to reveal a woman with dark hair and a black ensemble.

"Oh, _Eliza!" _she cooed, leaning halfway out of the helicopter. Her face suddenly became very menacing, although her voice was still happy-go-lucky. "Get in the helicopter so Mommy and Daddy can take you home!"

I stared at Eliza. "_These_ are your parents?"

Backing up several steps, she shook her head rapidly. "No, they aren't!" she said, almost angrily. She held Cupcake's Pokéball at her side, as if she was preparing herself for battle.

"Your father is going to be very upset with all of us if we don't get you home now!" called the woman. As the helicopter got closer to the ground, she leapt from the cockpit and into the snow. She began walking towards us, a Pokéball in her hands as well. "Mr. Giovanni isn't going to be pleased that his only daughter is hanging around on this mountain without any of our supervision."

I nearly choked. "_Giovanni_ is your father?!" I hissed at Eliza, who had this _Oops_ expression on her face. Giovanni may have been just a gym leader, but he was a lot more threatening than most thought him to be. And if Giovanni was involved, Team Rocket was involved. But ever since my battles with them as a preteen, I had long forgotten about them…

Oh, _that_ was what that 'R' meant.

I thought it looked familiar.

"Hand her over, trainer," said the woman. "A nice boy like you shouldn't have to get involved with this little girl's bad behavior."

As much as I wanted to take Eliza and hold her up like some sacrificial offering to Team Rocket, there was something about them I didn't trust. Everyone knew Team Rocket didn't have the cleanest hands, plus my experiences with them before had left quite the lasting impression. And looking at Eliza, who seemed scared beyond straight, I knew that I couldn't let them take her.

"I don't think so," I said, and the woman snarled. How unladylike. I attempted to explain things in a polite manner, "We have a contract, she and I. She's my apprentice now. I can't let her go until she's completed all of her training—"

I suppose the woman didn't have time for civil conversation, because she had summoned an Arbok and had yelled, "Use Poison Sting!" before I could even process what was happening.

I grabbed Eliza and swept her into my arms, dashing away as my faithful Blastoise jumped in front of us to guard us from the serpent Pokemon. "You owe me _big time_," I said to her as she glanced up at me gratefully.

Of course, my heroic actions were quickly ruined by nature and its inability to place things in convenient locations. I promptly ran my foot into a rock and went sprawling, Eliza tumbling away from me as I rolled in the snow. She screamed as she slid closer to the edge of the mountain, but there was nothing for her to grab onto. I shoved myself to my feet and sprinted for her, shortening the distance between us by sliding on the snow and reaching for her hand.

Just moments before she learned how to fly for the first and last time, I grabbed her hand and used the last of my strength to push myself off of a rock and jump to safety

She gasped, "Red, Red, are you okay?"

I collapsed in the snow, wishing this day would just be over already. "Just splendid," I said. Then I noticed that the helicopter was flying away. For a moment, I was utterly relieved, and then I reached for the belt of Pokéballs that should have been around my waist. Except, the Pokéballs kinda sorta weren't there.

I sat up, desperately searching for my Pokemon. They were nowhere to be found, though. I looked up at the helicopter. The woman who had attacked us was triumphantly smiling at me, leaning against the frame of the cockpit and holding my belt in the air, teasing me with it.

"We got your Pokemon, twerp!" she yelled, her voice getting fainter and fainter. I sprinted after them, but the chopper had already flown over the mountain and was above empty air. "And if you want them back, you're going to have to return the child to us!"

"T—that's not even _fair! _You guys are cheaters!_" _I dropped to my knees, devastated as I watched my Pokéballs being taken away from me. Everyone was in there: Charizard, Venusaur, Snorlax and Lapras, and even Blastoise was gone too…

_Pikachu._

I was Pokémon-less and stuck on top of a mountain with a girl whose father controlled the biggest and most villainous organization in all of Kanto. I collapsed onto my back again, staring at the sky and wondering if this was all some, out-of-control dream.

Eliza crawled towards me. "At least we still have Cupcake," she said.

"Just shut up, Eliza," I said. After a long time of just lying there and breathing in an extremely angry fashion, I sat up and sternly added, "You have to go home."

The girl crossed her arms, looking like she was about to throw a tantrum. "No," she said. She sounded a lot calmer than the expression she was wearing. "They're awful, rude, and mean people and I never want to go back there again. I hate living with them."

"Yeah, I would too," I said, imagining Team Rocket's parenting skills. "But that doesn't change anything. My whole team has been Pokénapped because of you. How am I supposed to stand here at the top of this mountain, doing my job, if I don't even have a team with battle with?"

Eliza considered those words for a moment, but then all respect for me and my life was out the window. "I'm not going back there," she said. "I don't care what you say. And if _you_ try to take me back, I'll just run off and then you'll never get your Pokemon. I don't need you to be strong…" She started breathing quickly, panicking. "I don't need you at all."

"All right, all right," I said. I had the impression that, beneath her stubborn exterior, she was hiding some, "I want my mommy!"s and a secret or two. I didn't really care to know her reason for coming here or why she had run away in the first place. I just wanted to see Pikachu and the others again. "So what am I supposed to do? Either way, I don't get my Pokémon back."

That stumped her. "You'll figure something out," she said, and I groaned. "You're Trainer Red. Team Rocket is scared of you."

I guessed, "That's why you came here, isn't it?"

"_No!" _She hung her head, instantly remorseful about her outburst. "I didn't come here because I thought you would be able to protect me from them. I didn't think Pikachu and all of the others were going to be taken." And at this, she really, _really_ looked regretful. "But only you can help me. And—and once you're done, I'll go home! I'll tell them to give your Pokémon back. But you have to help me first!"

I still didn't know what she wanted from me. That was one of the most frustrating parts about all of this. "I'm going to go get them," I said, refusing to let any of her whining convince me otherwise. She just bit her lip and sat there, as if knowing that was the response she was destined to get from the start. "But I'm not leaving you here. You're coming with me."

"You're not going to ditch me?" asked Eliza, widening her eyes.

"Not really an option," I said sourly, and I was instantly bear-hugged around the waist. I added, "I'm taking you to their headquarters. I don't know what it is you want, but whatever you _think_ you can learn from me in that time, go for it. Just make it quick, because I don't intend on traveling for long—"

"Oh, _thank you_, Red!"

At that moment, I came to several realizations. "I have some money, but that's only going to feed us and keep us clothed for the meantime," I remarked, glancing into my pockets. "I hope I'm not recognized on the road, either. People will want to challenge me with Pokemon I don't even have. Oh, that's another thing. I have no Pokemon." Saying it was admitting the truth, and boy was it killing me on the inside.

Eliza grinned. And, her voice a lively chirp, she repeated:

"At least we still have Cupcake!"

**End of Chapter One**

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**Other Notes**: Their journey begins? oAo


End file.
